This for That

by Leslie Aronson — July 19, 2008

You know you should eat healthy: incorporate certain foods into your diet and eliminate others. But sometimes it's hard to know what or how to do that. Here are some suggestions from this month's Body + Soul :

• Substitute sweet potatoes for white ones because sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin A, fiber and vitamin C
• Walnuts instead of croutons because walnuts provide long-lasting energy, omega-3's to prevent heart disease, melatonin to regulate sleep, and phytosterols to help lower cholesterol
• Avocado for mayonnaise because avocadoes have less fat and calories than mayo and have fiber, folate, niacin, and vitamins B6 and K
• Shitakes instead of button mushrooms because shitakes stimulate your immune system and help fight against cancer as well as lower cholesterol
• Dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate because dark has heart-protecting antioxidants and can reduce blood pressure
• Romaine lettuce instead of iceberg because romaine has more folate and vitamins A, C, and K, as well as potassium
• Almond butter instead of cream cheese because almond butter has more fiber, calcium, vitamin E, and magnesium; the extra calories are traded off by the extra protein
• Whole-wheat flour rather than all-purpose because whole wheat has more fiber and antioxidants, and is a whole grain, which we should all know by now is important
• Canola oil for vegetable oil because canola has more omega-3's
• Yogurt for sour cream because yogurt has less calories, fat, and saturated fat and more calcium